189863
submission
ZigstonR writes:
CNET.co.uk has a full review of the iPhone-like HTC Touch. CNet gives it a thumbs up and writes that the TouchFlo interface looks great. That said, they clearly state that the TouchFlo interface is no match for what the iPhone is going to offer, "The TouchFlo menu presents you with a set of applications, media apps and contacts that you navigate through by swiping your thumb left and right. It's presented in a three-dimensional way and gives the illusion that you're turning a multi-faced block. It works rather well, although you have to press the screen a little harder than you might think. Unfortunately, as soon as you click one of the thumb-sized buttons, you're ejected back into the less thumb-friendly Windows Mobile interface. You then need to pull out a stylus to input text messages or browse Web pages properly. The lack of a phone-wide finger-friendly interface isn't great — compared to the iPhone this is pretty lacklustre, but compared to most of the Windows Mobile devices out there it's a great improvement."
189861
submission
189859
submission
Scoopy writes:
California resident Dennis Sheehan took Gateway to small claims court after he reportedly received a defective computer and little technical support from the PC manufacturer. Gateway responded with their own lawyer and a 2-inch thick stack of legal docs, and claimed that Sheehan violated the EULA, which requires that users give up their right to sue and settle these cases in private arbitration. Sheehan responded that he never read the EULA, which pops up when the user first starts the computer, because the graphics were scrambled — precisely the problem he had complained to tech support in the first place. A judge sided with Sheehan on May 24 and the case will proceed to small claims court.
A lawyer is quoted as saying that Sheehan, a high school dropout who is arguing his own case, is in for a world of hurt: 'This poor guy now faces daunting reality of having to litigate this on appeal against Gateway...By winning, he's lost.'
189391
submission
MissDemeanor writes:
Wired science reports that chemists at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia have proven that the illicit drug Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate is slowly produced in refrigerated urine samples, which could cause innocent people to accidentally test positive. Drug testing labs often have a massive backlog of samples. This means that a urine sample could be left in a refrigerator for months before it is tested. During that time, the drug known as liquid ecstasy, forms naturally and can lead to a false positive result that fools even the most rigorous laboratory testing by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. To make matters worse, the field test for GHB gives a false positive when exposed to natural soaps.
184513
story
gtada writes
"A story published at Physorg.com discusses recently published research into the fabrication of solar cells that surpass the 40% efficiency milestone. Such devices would be the high water-mark to date, and hint at the possibility of even more effective technology. 'In the design, multijunction cells divide the broad solar spectrum into three smaller sections by using three subcell band gaps. Each of the subcells can capture a different wavelength range of light, enabling each subcell to efficiently convert that light into electricity. With their conversion efficiency measured at 40.7%, the metamorphic multijunction concentrator cells surpass the theoretical limit of 37% of single-junction cells at 1000 suns, due to their multijunction structure.'"
127953
submission
An anonymous reader writes:
Which of these two articles should I believe? The first article, which was posted on April 2, 2007 on Investor's Business Daily is titled Hollywood Reeling From Illegal Movie, TV Downloads. The commentary from Investor's Business Daily writer Brian Deagon recants the MPAA's spin that "in 2005 alone it lost $2.3 billion to Internet copyright breaches in the U.S and $7 billion worldwide, including box-office receipts and video sales". The second article was published in USA Today on April 1, 2007. The title of that article is 2007 Box Office is Smoking. The USA Today article tells how the film industry is set to break all box office records this year. So, is Hollywood reeling or isn't it?
127845
submission
PHPNerd writes:
My boss is a very smart man who has been in the computing industry (mainly the software side of it) for the last twenty years. Now he's the IT Director at the company I work for where I'm a software developer (about 500 employees total). I see the value of open source, and so does my boss who frequently tests out the latest and greatest that the community has to offer. However, here at this company, we're rather entrenched into Microsoft and other companies where the users feel "safe" and "secure" using it because it's the familiar thing to them. He told me that he cannot justify moving to Open Office, Linux, and other open source movements. Effectively, it appears as though his hands are tied by the higher-ups. So, I ask the Slashdot community for help: I need a homerun, slam dunk list (to present to the vice presidents) with reasons why moving to open source will not only save money, but help the company to do better business.
111815
submission
fatron writes:
After yesterday's flight readiness review, SpaceX announced they will be attempting the second launch of their Falcon 1 Spacecraft today. The launch is scheduled for 4:00PM Pacific time, and the webcast can be viewed here.
111689
submission
torok writes:
According to this article on Gizmag, Tata, India's largest automotive manufacturer, has developed a car that runs on compressed air. It costs less than $3 USD to fill a tank on which it can run for 200 to 300km. The car will cost about USD $7,300 and has a top speed of 68mph. About once every 50,000 km you have to change the oil (1 litre of vegetable oil). Initial plans are to produce 3,000 cars per year. I think the world needs about 100x that.